I'm a big fan of BMW, but they do what's good for them -- not for you.

First off, they have this funky shifter -- one unlike any other standard PRNDL. So, they got to thinking, what happens if someone gets out of the car and forgets to push P -- an action UNLIKE ANY OTHER COMMON SHIFTER? The answer? The car rolls, and we get sued.

Let's send the engineers back to their CAD stations and get them to design an interlock.

That was it, the sum total of their concern.

As to the idea of whether or not they would do something the car wouldn't support over time, check out this thread in which I whine that they buried an "update" about ASS wear in the quick start guide. They picked a place they could bury the warning about ASS wear.

wow, interetsing stuff about the ASS system. i suppose they would have to say something along those lines to cover themselves if someone found there was wear. to be honest im not suprised it causes more engine wear. glad im only keeping my car for three years!